Yahweh

 

  

Yahweh, someone said,

Sounds like a breath:

It is the first breath at one’s birth

And the last at death.

 

It gave me a thrill

To think I called His name

With the very first breath I drew

And then again and again.

 

Try taking a breath

And tell me of its sound,

It’s not farfetched what you hear,

It’s rather quite profound.

 

 

 

Yahweh, Yahweh

Comes with every breath,

Whispering at the time we come forth

Until our very death.

 

When God created Adam

He formed him from the mold,

Then He breathed his breath in him

Making him a living soul.

 

 

 

Yahweh, Yahweh

Comes with every breath,

A whisper at the time we come forth

Until our very death.

 

Now take a deep breath:

Inhale and exhale,

It seems like Yahweh is the sound

And this without fail.

 

Never take for granted

Even a single breath,

Notice it is Yahweh in and out

And then a little rest.

 

 

 

A pause to let it sink in:

Yahweh is in every breath

It’s like calling his name at birth

And saying it until death.

 

It is more obvious

If struggling to breathe,

Could it be a way of calling on Yahweh

To bring us ease?

 

 

 

Yahweh, Yahweh,

Comes with every breath,

From the moment we come forth

Until our very death.

 

Yahweh in and out,

It’s Yahweh every hour,

We cannot draw a single breath

Unless He gives us power.

 

Stewart Russell © September 22, 2025

 

A Blood Obsession

 

 

I am beginning to wonder,

And maybe you should

About the apparent obsession

We have about the blood.

 

Especially, I must say,

The blood of the Jesus

Which was shed at Mt Calvary

For every one of us.

 

Some will sprinkle it,

As though they could,

And draw a protective line too

With the blood.

 

Some plead it on others

As though they are foes

And what comes out of such,

Only God knows.

 

A seeming obsession

That the blood gives power

Over the enemy and misfortune

Every day and hour. 

 

 

Like the covenantal ark

Of the Ancient Isrealites

That would win them the victory

Over whom they fight.

 

Was the blood spiritual

Or was it real?

The blood we sprinkled today,

Of what is it made?

 

Who collected the blood

Off the cross and the ground

And please tell me if you can,

Is this blood still around?

 

The life is in the blood

And Christ gave his for us,

The blood given on Mt Calvary,

Was the life of Jesus.

 

 

He is no longer dead

As he conquered death

And because of his resurrection

The believer has rest.

 

The price for our sin

Was Jesus’ precious blood,

The beautiful hymn correctly says,

That no one else could.

 

No one was good enough

To pay the price of sin,

It took Jesus to open heaven’s door

And let the born-again in.

 

No sprinkling required

Except in the sinner’s heart

And everyone can rest assure

It’s where the Spirit starts.

 

No shedding of blood,

No remission of sin,

Nothing Apostle or Pastor can do;

Jesus must be allowed in.

 

 

‘Tis via the Holy Spirit

That Jesus will come in

And together with the Almighty

Will make his abode within.

 

The atonement was done

In a once-for-all sacrifice

And that once-for-all sacrifice

Was the blood of Jesus Christ.

 

So why this obsession

With this so-called blood?

It is time to stop the sprinkling;

I think we really should.

 

Stewart Russell © November 23, 2024

 

A Popular Name

 

 

I remember my school days

Not so very long ago,

Lots of things I have forgotten

But somethings I still know.

 

Not me is one of them

You would hear it every day,

As boys we were often up to mischief

And not me we would say.

 

Who was talking in the class?

Not me would be the reply,

Who stole the missing pencil?

Not me would be the lie.

 

An entire class with one name

Not me was that appellation,

So many boys with this name

Was surely beyond comprehension.

 

Even when the culprit was seen

He still would plea not me

And since not me was everyone

He could not be found guilty.

 

Well, at least not him alone

Since everybody was guilty,

Not me could never be punished

Since not me was everybody.

 

Maybe, it’s “hiding in a crowd”

Like people are wont to do,

How can you tell who’s done it?

Not me is also not you.

Not me has another slant

Which has to do with the exception,

Everybody must comply with the rule

Except the not me appellation.

 

Different strokes for different folks

Or perhaps, par for the course,

For every rule there is an exception

Sometimes it is even worse.

 

Under no condition whatever

Should anyone be allowed to pass

But it does not apply to not me,

Not me is in a special class.

 

And the lengths to which we go

To vindicate not me

Bearing in mind, of course,

The guilty is innocent until proven guilty.

 

Not me though guilty is innocent

And invariably wins each case,

After all, that is to be expected

Since the law can be two-faced.

 

The court says you must pay

But not me says not me,

From whom will you extract the charge?

Not me is somebody.

 

Somebody big and important

That is who is not me,

It would be better to leave this matter alone

And enter a not guilty plea.

Sometimes not me is nobody

Sometimes not me is somebody

But whether somebody or nobody

Not me is never guilty.

 

Sometimes not me is everybody

That is the not me in the crowd,

But the not me that can’t be touched

Is the not me that’s large and loud.

 

That’s the not me with power

And the not me that has position,

That’s not the not me that hides

But the not me that makes decisions.

 

Who is responsible for this poem?

The answer to that is not me,

Not me is the person now reading it

Not guilty as charged; you are free.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2020

A Power Called Love

 

 

Love is not weepy and weak

It’s gentle yet firm,

It is harnessed power

Even when spurned.

 

It’s synonymous with God

For God is love,

Jesus demonstrated it

When he came from above.

 

Love was reviled

But reviled not again,

It was to a cruel rugged cross

That love came.

 

To enforce is temporary

Until fear goes away,

But God’s love is everlasting

And has the last say.

 

Love cannot be forced

And is not external,

Au contraire, it is within

And is eternal.

 

Love is the power of God

That constrains,

It is why we do what we do

In Jesus’ name.

 

 

 

Love held the Saviour

On Calvary’s cross,

It was not those iron spikes

But his love for the lost.

 

Love was the real power

That held him there,

Love shouts across the centuries

Jesus cared.

 

 

For God so loved…

Therein is the power

That created heaven and earth

And keeps us every hour.

 

The vastness of God

Does not speak of His size

But to His wonderful love

That so many despise.

 

Love so amazing

Of power so divine

That assures me I belong to Jesus

And Jesus is mine.

 

Yes!  Such is the expression

Of the power that is love

That came that first Christmas

From heaven above.

 

 

Love is harnessed power

Released under control

And coupled with grace and truth

God’s mercies unfold.

 

Each and every day

His love comes our way,

It’s synonymous with God’s power

That over us holds sway.

 

Who or what can separate us

From love so profound?

God’s love has all the power

Any opposition to confound.

 

Love is the power

That binds us to Christ

Just like it held him to the cross

In his atoning sacrifice.

 

Love is the power

That keeps all that he saves

And brings them back in line

When they misbehave.

 

Love is the power

That binds the born again together,

No fear that unharnessed power

Will cause us bother.

 

 

No power without love

And no love without power

For what would be the use

One without the other?

 

A power called love

To a love that is secure

And a love that is powered

To keep us assured.

 

Stewart Russell © April 20, 2024

 

Stop Immediately!

 

 

If I heard a command

To stop immediately

I would expect the speaker to be

Someone of authority?

 

For example: a policeman

Or military personnel,

A school principal or teacher

Or some warning bell.

 

It’s an urgent command

Implying serious fallout

And this, if the recipient persists,

Would be without doubt.

 

Who would dare disobey

Someone with a gun

Unless he was fast enough

A bullet to outrun?

 

So, stop immediately

Speaks to authority

And that authoritative command

Implies great urgency.

 

I saw a popular evangelist

Blow COVID-19 away

Yet this pandemic is still with us

Up to this very day.

 

His was a stop immediately

That did not materialize

Since COVID is still with us

And not even in disguise.

 

Even with children

“Stop” is losing its weight,

Far less the "immediately",

They’d rather suffer fate.

 

 

One PM to another PM

Regarding a war declaration,

“Stop immediately!” that PM said,

But without recognition.

It was like Jezebel’s prophets

When they prayed to Baal

But Baal did not hear them

So, it was to no avail.

 

The “stop immediately”

Must from a greater power come

Or else it will be meaningless

And nothing will be done.

 

Immediacy and authority

Tend to go hand in hand,

Greatest power is proportionate to

Quickest heed to command.

 

One very popular pastor

And also, another well-known one,

Combined their double anointing

To quell the LGBTQ storm.

 

Another “stop immediately”

That did not make a difference,

The LGBTQ’s effort has not lessened

And definitely not their intent.

 

 

So, a “stop immediately”,

Must be from high up on the list

Of power brokers in the world

To pull off a “cease and desist”.

 

Do note my cherished reader

I have not mentioned any names

So, read this poem as it was written

And none of us will be blamed.

 

Stewart Russell © July 31, 2023

 

Salvation and Its Jargon 2

 

 

Salvation is the saving of a sinner

From the clutches of sin,

This is a simple explanation

And the best place to begin.

 

You would notice the word clutches

For there is more than one

Each one begins with “P”

In this you should be warned.

 

There is the “penalty” of sin

And there is also its “power”,

There is the “presence” of sin

In which we live every hour.

 

The wages of sin is eternal death

Here we speak of its penalty,

Its power influences the way we live

In our day-to-day activity.

  

Sin’s penalty is waived

When a soul becomes saved

And the loosening of its power

Is demonstrated in the way we behave.

 

“Transformation” is initiated

And in that life the change continues,

Such a change is noticeable

In that person’s outlook and views.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2018